INDIANAPOLIS — All season, the Giants’ defensive players have had “Hands Wall of Fame” papers in their locker with their faces on there. I kept meaning to ask what that was all about but never got the full explanation.

For Thursday’s paper, I wrote a story about how Antrel Rolle used those papers to motivate Deon Grant before the Giants’ game against the Patriots. In asking around, I was told they’re a reference to the actual “Hands Wall of Fame” in tight ends coach Mike Pope’s meeting room.

So in an attempt to finally get to bottom of this, I went to Pope today.

“When a defensive player intercepts a pass, they go into the training room, they take a photograph on the copy machine of their hands, they autograph it, (coaching assistant) Chris Pridy decorates it a little bit, makes it nice and it goes up in my meeting room,” Pope said. “That means they got an interception, they got us the ball, so it’s a form of recognition and appreciation.”

Okay, so now what are the papers in the lockers? Well, Pope hands them out every week with a theme on them to help motivate the players.

“Kind of a little reminder an interception would help us out this week,” Pope said.

Pope works on the theme with one of the secretaries to keep it fresh. In fact, he said today he was the mastermind behind the “sucker” paper with Aaron Rodgers’ head on it that was hanging in Antrel Rolle’s locker after the divisional-round playoff victory against the Packers. Rolle had taken that with him to Green Bay.

Sometimes, the target isn’t the opposing team’s quarterback. It can often be the Giants’ own players. Such was the case one week late in the season when Pope put the pictures of players who hadn’t had interceptions in months on milk cartons.

“The missing kids,” Pope said. “That (upset them) and so they came to me and said, ‘I’m getting my picture off that milk carton this week.’

“So then Aaron Ross runs into the back of JPP (Jason Pierre-Paul) and knocks himself out. They come and blame me and say, ‘We tried so hard to get those picks to get on the Hands Wall of Fame, we’re killing each other. And it’s your fault.’ I said, ‘Okay, I’ll take the hit for that one.’”